Consider the formula for sucessful grantseeking from The Teacher's Guide to Winning Grants by David G. Bauer:
Needs
+
Solutions
+
Commitment
=
Educational Commitment
of your students, classroom, community and society
ideas & strategies to adapt change, strengthen the education system
the extra effort of you, your colleagues, and parents
new strategies, equipment, and materials to meet the challenges of education
Brainstorm/Organizing
1. Select the problems or area you want to address. Concentrate on two or three of those areas that could be solved by extra funding. Brainstorming a list of needs that you see with your school system, your school, your department or just your classroom may be the way to get started. Involve others in helping to come up with a list of problems. A good way to accomplish this is to survey your department or even your entire staff. Such a survey might help pin down the biggest problems that your school faces. Conduct a needs assessment by analyzing available data to help identify problems, determine severity and to match problems with granting entities.
2. Create a three-ring binder (Grant Workbook) for each of the two or three topics to which you have narrowed your proposal. In your Grant Workbook, be sure to include:
Journal articles, studies, surveys, human interest stories, and newspaper clippings that document the problems;
Committee notes and names of other teachers and parents interested in collaborating on solutions to the problems;
Details of solutions to the problems;
Pertinent information on potential funding sources, including notes of your contacts with them and ways to tailor your proposal to fit the needs and values of each funding source;
Letters of endorsement, consortium agreements, subcontracts, etc. (Bauer, 9).
3. Create a Grant Advisory Committee for your two to three choices. Such a committee should include teachers, principals, district administrators, parents, corporate leaders, foundation board members, city officials such as the mayor, etc. If there is a grant advisory group available at your school or within your county, make use of it. Also, check with your principal to make sure he/she is agreeable to the grant proposal.
Research Funding and Budgeting
4. Research possible sources of grant money by matching your identified problems with granting entitites interested in helping with those types of problems. The federal government, state governments, foundations, and businesses provide 99% of all grant money in the US, and you can select the type of grantor you want to pursue (Bauer, 36). The best options for appropriate granting entities are using a school grant database (fastest and most efficient way), subscribing to a school grant newsletter, or using Internet search engines (least expensive way).
5. Prepare a simple budget with cost estimations of all equipment, materials, and supplies needed for your proposed solutions to your identified problems. More than one funding source may be needed as some grantors may only give a set amount towards the overall cost of your project or may limit their funding to specific parts of your project; for example, some will not pay for equipment expenses.
6. Research details about the granting entities that you are considering. Consider their previously awarded grants and examine the application process for required information. Talk to employees of the funding source and make personal contact with someone in the upper echelons of the business or foundation, especially if it is someone you already know. Contact the grantor(s) directly for information about deadlines, projected timelines for grant submission, notification of award, and receipt of funds, as well as proposal guidelines including a complete list of what must be submitted in order for your project to be considered.
Writing the Grant Proposal
7. Choose one of the identified problems from your Grant Workbook and develop a plan to solve the problem using grant funds.
State the program goals and objectives clearly and establish how achievement of the goals will be measured. Goals must be realistic and measureable so that it is clear whether they have been achieved.
Detailed strategies to achieve your goals and objectives will come from your goal statements. These strategies are the activities you will use to accomplish your goals.
Intermediate goals or benchmarks should be established for smaller segments of the grant period, allowing you to measure and track progress toward your goals. Periodic assessments provide information not only about progress toward goals but also about potential obstacles that may impede goal achievement.
Draft a timeline and detailed budget to assist in implementation of the grant program.
The final section consists of your outcome measures by which you determine the overall success of the program in relationship to its goals and objectives.
8. Tailor your solution to meet your prospective grantor's expectations and interests; be sure to follow the specifications outlined by your prospective grantor. Complete and thorough proposals communicate to your potential funding source that you have thoughtfully considered all aspects of your proposed program and that it is likely to be successful.
9. Complete a project planner (Bauer, 90), including a detailed budget for personnel costs, training, equipment, supplies, etc. Information about preparing budgets for grant proposals may be found in the Helpful Links section (see below).
10. Preparing a quality grant proposal does not require a professional grant writer, although it is advisable to hire an experienced professional grant wirter when applying for large and highly competitive state or federal grants. Write, proofread, review, revise, and submit the proposal.
Helpful Tips
Read and follow all application directions thoroughly and completely. Grant applications vary greatly in length and required components; some even specify the fonts, type sizes, and margins to use.
Do not skip sections or write NA (not applicable) on the application - unless directed to do so by someone from the granting agency. In that case, document exactly what you were told and by whom. Competitive grant applications are sent to a group of readers who read and score sections of each application. Failure to complete a specific section of the application leads to an automatic loss of points for that section.
Call or e-mail the grant contact person when you encounter questions or difficulties in completing the grant application.
Deadlines are more than just guidelines. Applications can arrive early but if received after the deadline date, they are just that - dead.
Be clear and specific about your needs and how the grant money will be used to help solve your identified problem.
Bibliography •Bauer, D. G. (1999). The Teacher’s Guide to Winning Grants. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. •Foundation Grant Resources; www.foundationcenter.org•Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA); www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/•Peek, Don (2009). Getting Ready to Write Fall Grants. Education World; www.educationworld.com•Starr, Linda (2008). Show Me the Money: Tips and Resources for Successful Grant Writing. Education World; www.educationworld.com
The Grant Writing Process
Consider the formula for sucessful grantseeking from The Teacher's Guide to Winning Grants by David G. Bauer:
Brainstorm/Organizing
1. Select the problems or area you want to address. Concentrate on two or three of those areas that could be solved by extra funding. Brainstorming a list of needs that you see with your school system, your school, your department or just your classroom may be the way to get started. Involve others in helping to come up with a list of problems. A good way to accomplish this is to survey your department or even your entire staff. Such a survey might help pin down the biggest problems that your school faces. Conduct a needs assessment by analyzing available data to help identify problems, determine severity and to match problems with granting entities.
2. Create a three-ring binder (Grant Workbook) for each of the two or three topics to which you have narrowed your proposal. In your Grant Workbook, be sure to include:
- Journal articles, studies, surveys, human interest stories, and newspaper clippings that document the problems;
- Committee notes and names of other teachers and parents interested in collaborating on solutions to the problems;
- Details of solutions to the problems;
- Pertinent information on potential funding sources, including notes of your contacts with them and ways to tailor your proposal to fit the needs and values of each funding source;
- Letters of endorsement, consortium agreements, subcontracts, etc. (Bauer, 9).
3. Create a Grant Advisory Committee for your two to three choices. Such a committee should include teachers, principals, district administrators, parents, corporate leaders, foundation board members, city officials such as the mayor, etc. If there is a grant advisory group available at your school or within your county, make use of it. Also, check with your principal to make sure he/she is agreeable to the grant proposal.Research Funding and Budgeting
4. Research possible sources of grant money by matching your identified problems with granting entitites interested in helping with those types of problems. The federal government, state governments, foundations, and businesses provide 99% of all grant money in the US, and you can select the type of grantor you want to pursue (Bauer, 36). The best options for appropriate granting entities are using a school grant database (fastest and most efficient way), subscribing to a school grant newsletter, or using Internet search engines (least expensive way).
5. Prepare a simple budget with cost estimations of all equipment, materials, and supplies needed for your proposed solutions to your identified problems. More than one funding source may be needed as some grantors may only give a set amount towards the overall cost of your project or may limit their funding to specific parts of your project; for example, some will not pay for equipment expenses.
6. Research details about the granting entities that you are considering. Consider their previously awarded grants and examine the application process for required information. Talk to employees of the funding source and make personal contact with someone in the upper echelons of the business or foundation, especially if it is someone you already know. Contact the grantor(s) directly for information about deadlines, projected timelines for grant submission, notification of award, and receipt of funds, as well as proposal guidelines including a complete list of what must be submitted in order for your project to be considered.
Writing the Grant Proposal
7. Choose one of the identified problems from your Grant Workbook and develop a plan to solve the problem using grant funds.
- State the program goals and objectives clearly and establish how achievement of the goals will be measured. Goals must be realistic and measureable so that it is clear whether they have been achieved.
- Detailed strategies to achieve your goals and objectives will come from your goal statements. These strategies are the activities you will use to accomplish your goals.
- Intermediate goals or benchmarks should be established for smaller segments of the grant period, allowing you to measure and track progress toward your goals. Periodic assessments provide information not only about progress toward goals but also about potential obstacles that may impede goal achievement.
- Draft a timeline and detailed budget to assist in implementation of the grant program.
- The final section consists of your outcome measures by which you determine the overall success of the program in relationship to its goals and objectives.
8. Tailor your solution to meet your prospective grantor's expectations and interests; be sure to follow the specifications outlined by your prospective grantor. Complete and thorough proposals communicate to your potential funding source that you have thoughtfully considered all aspects of your proposed program and that it is likely to be successful.9. Complete a project planner (Bauer, 90), including a detailed budget for personnel costs, training, equipment, supplies, etc. Information about preparing budgets for grant proposals may be found in the Helpful Links section (see below).
10. Preparing a quality grant proposal does not require a professional grant writer, although it is advisable to hire an experienced professional grant wirter when applying for large and highly competitive state or federal grants. Write, proofread, review, revise, and submit the proposal.
Helpful Tips
Bibliography
• Bauer, D. G. (1999). The Teacher’s Guide to Winning Grants. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. •Foundation Grant Resources; www.foundationcenter.org •Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA); www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/ •Peek, Don (2009). Getting Ready to Write Fall Grants. Education World; www.educationworld.com •Starr, Linda (2008). Show Me the Money: Tips and Resources for Successful Grant Writing. Education World; www.educationworld.com